Method for securing supporting spline strips



p 4. 1956 s. E. SORENSON 2,751,142

METHOD FOR SECURING S PPORTING SPLINE STRIPS Original Filed June 1, 1954 gillll I:

INVENTOR. Stanley E. Sorenson attorneys United States Patent Oflice 2,761,142 Patentedsept. 4, 1956 METHOD FOR SECURING SUPPORTING SPLINE STRIPS Stanley E. Sorenson, Seattle, Wash., assignor to Eugene F. Gaines, Joplin, Mo.

Original application June 1, 1954, Serial No. 433,356. Divided and this application September 27, 1954, Serial No. 458,425

3 Claims. (Cl. 1--60) My invention relates to a method for securing a supporting spline strip for a pair of abutting panels, such as accoustical tiles grooved along opposite sides, to a furring strip or some other suitable support, and is a division of my pending application Ser. No. 433,356, filed June 1, 1954, which is in turn a continuation-in-part of my pending application Ser. No. 240,490, filed August 6, 1951, now abandoned.

Prior to my invention such a spline strip was usually secured in place by nails driven at an angle through the spline strip into the furring strip via the back lip of the tile, and namely the lip lying between the spline strip and the furring strip. Such a nailing procedure has been found objectionable because the projecting side edge of the spline strip onto which the next tile is to be fitted usually is bent toward the furring strip as the nails are driven so that it is difficult to install the next tile. The procedure also meets with objection because it is ditficult to drive the nails without damaging the front exposed edge of the panel. Furthermore, some tiles are too hard for a ready passage of nails therethrough and/or so brittle as to preclude nailing without fracturing the tile.

Accordingly, this invention aims to provide a simple improved method whereby a spline strip can] be rapidly secured to a furring strip or other support in substantial parallel relation thereto and at a predetermined distance therefrom defined by the thickness of the back lip of the accoustical tiles or other grooved panels to be supported by the spline strip without passing an object through the panels.

Other more particular objects and advantages will, together with these general objects, appear and be understood in the course of the following description and claims, the invention consisting in the novel method hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a section of an accoustical tile ceiling with certain parts broken away and installed by my invention. 1

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3. is a perspective view of my spacing attachment.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view similar to Fig. 2 showing the spline strip preparatory to stapling.

Fig. 5 is a side View of a stapling machine equipped with my spacing attachment driving a staple through the spline strip of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken as indicated by line 8-8 of Fig. 4, but with the staple driven and the stapling machine and spacer attachment removed; and

Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken as Fig. 2 and illustrating a modified panel.

I Referring to Fig. 1 it will be seen that a plurality of accoustical tiles 10 are suspended beneath parallel runs of furring strips 11, spaced a tile width apart, by supporting spline strips 12which fit into grooves 13 formed along the sides of the tiles. These grooves 13 are defined between front and back lips 14 and 15, respectively. The spline strips 12 are spaced by the thickness of a back lip 15 from the furring strips and are secured to the latter by staples 16; the staple being driven closely 'adjacent and with its bar substantially parallel to the edge of the front lip and with its legs through the spline strip thicknesswise thereof and into the supporting structure. Cross splines 171 extend be tween the furring strips in the groove 13 and are used for leveling purposes only, they having no physical connection with the furring strips.

Assuming that the tile 10a is held in position with its back lip 15 resting against the front face of the furring strip 11 and that the tile 10b is the next tile to be installed, the supporting spline 12 is then inserted into the groove 13 as shown in Fig. 4 leaving about half of its width projecting therebeyond. As the next installation steps I place a spacer above the projecting half of the spline 12 to hold it away from the furring strip and then drive a staple 16 through the spline and close to the tile 10a. There are a great variety of hand and air tackers or staplers on the market which are satisfactory for driving the staples 16 or nail equivalents, and so for purposes of example I have illustrated a hand stapler 17 having an operating handle 19 which, when pressed by the operator as indicated by broken lines in Fig. 5, causes a hammer 18 located in a driving head 20 to drive a staple from the nose of the driving head into an object adjacent such nose and aligned with the hammer. As an adjunct for the stapler 17 I provide a spacing attachment 21 which has a base 22 and spaced sides 23 extending at right angles to the base. These sides are formed with fore and aft slots 24, 25 for receiving locking screws 26, 27, respectively. The front end ofthe base 22 projects beyond the sides 23 by a foot 28 having a pair of toes 29 which are spaced apart at 30 at least the width of a staple 16.

When the spacing attachment is in operative position on the stapler 17, its sides 23 straddle the sides 31 of the staplerand the locking screws 26, 27 are adjusted within the slots 24, 25 and tightened to space the foot 28 from the nose of the driving head 2t) by a gap corresponding to the thickness of the supporting spline strips 12. The space 30 between the toes 29 is aligned with the travel path of the staples driven by the hammer 18 so that the staples will pass between the toes as best shown in Fig. 6. In this regard the outer end portion 32 of the foot between the toes is located as close as possible to the staple travel path.

With its spacing attachment thus secured, the stapler is moved endwise across the furring strip 11 to introduce first the toes 29 and then the foot proper 28 between the projecting portion of the spline strip 12 and the tuning strip and thus bring such projecting portion between the nose of the driving head 20 and the foot 28. To aid in their introduction, the toes 29 desirably have their tips rounded. Movement of the stapler is continued until the front face of its driving head bears against the front lip 14 of the tile 10a so that when the staple 16 is driven in response to a pressing of the handle 19 it will be located as close to the tile as the driving mechanism will permit. As the staple is driven it passes through the spline strip, between the toes 29, and into the furring strip until the center section of the staple is urged against the front face of the spline strip. During this operation, the foot 28 and its toes together with the back lip 15 of the tile keep the spline strip in spaced parallel relation to the furring strip in the vicinity of the staple being driven. The stapler is then moved endwise in a reverse direction to remove the foot 29 from between the spline and fnrring strips. After several staples 16 have thus been driven at spaced intervals along the length of the spline strip, the next tile b can be inserted over the projecting side edge portion of the spline strip into abutment with the tile 10a as shown in Fig. 2. In this latter regard, when the front and back lips 14, of the tiles are substantially the same length as is common, it is necessary to compress somewhat the back lip 15 of the tile 10b in the vicinity of the legs of the staples so that the front lips 14 of the two tiles can be brought into abutment. This is easily done when the tile material is relatively soft and for the harder tiles I propose the modified tile 100 shown in Fig. 9 wherein the back lip 15a is shorter than the front lip 14a so that the back lip of the tile 100a which is inserted over the stapled spline strip 12 will not engage the staples before the front lips of the tiles 100, 100a are brought together.

It will be self-evident that the foot 28 can be provided as an integral part of a tacker or stapler instead of on an attachment therefor. Likewise, it is obvious that one or both of the toes 29 can be omitted from the foot or that the foot can be otherwise modified without departing from the scope of my invention and still provide sufficient spacing support for the spline strip in the region of the staple being driven and yet out of the travel path of the legs of the staple.

It is thought that the invention will have been clearly understood from the foregoing detailed description. Since minor changes in the details of construction will suggest themselves to anyone skilled in the art without departing from the nature of my invention, this invention is not limited to the exact details above-described except as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a method for mounting from a supporting structure a pair of panels of a readily deformable material each having a side edge formed with a groove therealong defined by front and back lips, the steps of holding one of said panels with its back lip resting by its back face against the front face of said supporting structure, positioning a spline strip with approximately half of its width in said groove of the panel and the rest of its width projecting beyond the side edge of the front lip of the panel, introducing a spacer behind the projecting portion of the spline strip and resting against the supporting structure, said spacer having a thickness from front to back approximating that of the back lip of the panel, driving a staple closely adjacent and substantially parallel to the edge of said front lip through said spline strip into the supporting structure near said spacer thus forcing the spline strip to bear against the spacer and the back lip of the panel, withdrawing said spacer from behind the spline strip, and interfitting the other said panel by its groove with the projecting portion of the spline strip and deforming its back lip by the legs of said staple to bring the side edges of the front lips of said panels together thereby hiding the spline strip and staple from front view.

2. In a method for mounting from a supporting structure a first panel having a side edge formed with a groove therealong defined by front and back lips and a second panel similarly grooved along a side edge and having the side edge of its back lip formed with a backcut portion, the steps of holding said first panel with its back lip resting by its back face against the front face of said supporting structure, positioning a spline strip with approximately half of its width in said groove of the panel and the rest of its width projecting beyond the side edge of the front lip of said first panel, introducing a spacer behind the projecting portion of the spline strip and resting against the supporting structure, said spacer having a thickness from front to back approximating that of the back lip of the panel, driving a staple closely adjacent and substantially parallel to the edge of the front lip of said first panel through said spline strip into the supporting structure near said spacer thus forcing the spline strip to bear against the spacer and the back lip of the panel, and interfitting said second panel by its groove with the projecting portion of the spline strip and with the legs of the staple within the space provided by said backcut portion to bring the side edges of the front lips of said panels together thereby hiding the spline strip and staple from front view.

3. In a stapling method for mounting from a supporting structure a pair of panels each having a side edge formed with a groove therealong defined by front and back lips, and both adapted to have the side edge of their said front lips brought into meeting engagement when legs of a staple are located between their said back lips in a position offset somewhat from said meeting side edges toward the center of one of said panels, the steps of holding one of said panels with its back lip resting by its back face against the front face of said supporting structure, positioning a spline strip with approximately half of its width in said groove of the panel and the rest of its width projecting beyond the side edge of said front lip of the panel, introducing a spacer behind the projecting portion of the spline strip so as to underlie the extreme side edge of such projecting portion and resting against the supporting structure, said spacer having a thickness from front to back approximating that of the back lip of the panel, driving a staple closely adjacent and with its bar substantially parallel to the edge of said front lip and with its legs through said spline strip thicknesswise thereof and into the supporting structure near said spacer thus forcing the spline strip to bear against the spacer and the back lip of the panel, withdrawing said spacer from behind the spline strip, and interfitting the other said panel by it's groove with the projecting portion of the spline strip to bring the side edges of the front lips of said panels together thereby hiding the spline strip and staple from front view.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 88,501 Miles Mar. 30, 1869 186,463 Dickinson Jan. 23, 1877 602,769 Parker Apr. 19, 1898 1,000,859 Vaughan Aug. 15, 1911 1,016,383 Wellman Feb. 6, 1912 1,459,458 Wojan June 19, 1923 2,043,440 Littlefield June 9, 1936 2,080,912 Guy May 18, 1937 2,314,841 Crooks Mar. 23, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS 23,891 Switzerland June 3, 1901 

